Beginners Guide to eCommerce - 'Merchant Accounts'
by Palyn Peterson
You will need a merchant account. THIS IS A MUST!
This is an account you get with a bank or credit card company to be able to accept credit cards over the internet. I repeat, YOU MUST ACCEPT CREDIT CARDS. If you do not, you will sell drastically less. If it isn't easy for someone to buy your products, they won't.
Some online malls like Yahoo! Shopping offer shopping basket software, but they do not provide the merchant service that actually processes the credit cards and deposits the funds in your bank account. You will need to find a service and have it setup to your online store.
A lot of web hosting companies have a preferred merchant services company you can use, or still you can get your own.
The average rates for the service are usually around 2.2%-3.5% plus 25-40¢ per transaction. This will of course vary from merchant to merchant.
Go to Google and search for Merchant Account reviews. This way, you will not only find a lot of sites offering the service, but reviews on them so you can make an educated decision.
Some third party merchant companies like PayPal, 2CheckOut or iBill provide shopping carts and merchant services all in one package which you should look into if you are not going through an online mall venue.
Paypal has the best rates of all of these. Also, they do not charge a setup or subscription fee. Their shopping cart is VERY simple, however. If you have any items with options that would change the price, this will not work. But jeez! It is great system if it'll work for you. Click here to visit PayPal for more information.
BUT WAIT! I told you that I would give you all the information so you can make educated choices. Now that I've gone running my mouth off about PayPal's good points, I need to tell you that there have been complaints about them, lots of them. In fact, enough of them that people felt they needed to create these two sites:
I personally have not been convinced to not use PayPal, they have great rates and I've known internet marketers using them for a very long time with large amounts of money without any issues.
I've also used the merchant services provided by 2CheckOut.com for some things. They have many great features, but aren't the easiest to create and manage items with. Once you figure it out, it won't be a problem -- and don't let this disuade you from their service. They do charge a small setup fee, but never any subscription or monthly fees. I strongly suggest you check them out. Click here to read up on them. Oh yeah, they also give you a fully functional shopping cart with all the bells and whistles.
Another third party merchant is Clickbank, this is the absolute best merchant for you if you sell information products. They do not require any subscription fee, but do charge a $50 setup fee. They have a rate of 7.5% + $1 per transaction. That may seem pretty steep, but they also keep track of affiliates automatically, and affiliates are an extremely valuable resource for you. Clickbank keeps track of them and pays them automatically, you do absolutely nothing. Seriously, keep Clickbank in mind. If you are going to sell information, these are the people you want to deal with -- their checkout procedure is easy, and the built in affiliate program is a goldmine. | 